The last words that a person speaks are pretty significant, and none more so than those recorded of Jesus in Matthew 28:18-20 which are often called 'The Great Commission'. Jesus chooses to prioritise spreading the good news with his last words. Is this something we prioritise?

SU Groups - NUA Week 8 from SU Ireland Films on Vimeo.

Question to consider:

If I don't tell my friends about Jesus and help them to live a Christian life, who will?

Jonny shared in the video about his neighbour, whose faith had a profound impact on him growing up, both in his words and his kind actions. 100 years ago in Scotland a much higher percentage of people had some knowledge of Jesus, and so there were more opportunities to hear about him. Now statistics suggest somewhere between 1-3% of Scottish people have an active faith in Jesus. That means although our friends may know other Christians, we can't rely on them hearing the gospel somewhere else! 

 

Digging Deeper

 

Read Romans 10:13-14

We know that how we live as Christians is important and shows people something of the God we worship. But do you think actions are enough?

Sometimes when we read verses such as these we end up feeling guilty about all the times we didn't speak about Jesus and about not wanting to. Or we feel a lot of pressure that if we don't tell friends about Jesus they will never be able to know him. We can have a lot of fears about sharing the good news about Jesus.

Make a list of all the things that you fear about sharing Jesus with friends (e.g. they won't be my friend any more)

Now go back to the passage in Matthew 28:18-20 and make a list of the things Jesus says he will do, and the things he asks Christians to do.

  1. What help does Jesus promise us as we step out to share him with others?
  2. Jesus doesn't speak of making converts in this passage, but disciples. What do you think the difference is? How could you make sure you are seeking to make disciples rather than just leading people to accept Jesus as their Saviour?

 

Pray about what you have just been thinking on, and about your fears of sharing Jesus. Thank God that he wants to use you to share with friends, but that it's not your responsibility to see them come to know him - it's God's. You could take up Jesus' offer of help and commit to praying for 5 friends for 5 minutes each day, asking for God to give you opportunities to share with them or invite them to events.